He didn’t sound very sorry, but Kenzie’s dangling foot wiggled, and she nodded, wiggling slightly in her seat a bit between the motions.

Mrs. Yamada said, “The reason I’ve been somewhat quiet, despite my referee role, is more or less what Tristan intuited. I’ve done this in the past—taking more of a backseat, giving you all more of an opportunity to respond to one another and push back against one another rather than relying on me to keep things under control. In the early stages, I had to step in rather quickly. I’m glad that with minimal prompting, Tristan stopped himself before reaching the point where I had to tell him to stop.”

“We’re being toyed with,” Ashley said.

“Not that,” Mrs. Yamada said. “The end goal is to get you all ready for the real world. Early on, the rudder needed a firm hand; as time goes on, I’m periodically hands off, seeing how you interact, until I see that you’re faring reasonably well on your own. It’s a gradual process that requires I give you more and more trust. Okay?”

Ashley nodded.

“It might be worth pausing to take stock in this moment. Snapshot the feelings and thoughts you’re experiencing. Some of you haven’t spoken up much at all. Depending on how you view the conversation, your participation or nonparticipation, some of you might be feeling frustrated, offended, worried, or even guilty.”

“Is that last one aimed at me?” Tristan asked. “Oh, wait, sorry, I’m supposed to have shut up.”

“It’s not aimed at you, Tristan,” Mrs. Yamada said. “I want each of you to think about where you stand right now. What are your feelings and where is your focus? Have you felt like you’ve had a voice or that you’ve taken things in a positive direction? Outside of the classroom, in a stressful situation with high stakes, these feelings could be magnified manifold. As Victoria suggested when she was talking about the slow progression of background negativity, the bad feelings aren’t always resolved or solved, and it would be very easy for a sliver of frustration to carry forward, nettling at you or being joined by other, similar feelings, until you felt compelled to do or say something you regret.”

“Handing that irritation off to someone else,” I said.